The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Constructible utensils are increasingly being adopted by industry and consumers for a wide range of uses and applications in addition to environmentally-friendly eating utensils.
Products are often delivered in a powdered (or other “scoopable”) format shipped in a container defining a closed cylindrical or rectilinear volume. For consumer products, these products are typically consumed in specific portion sizes. Manufacturers and/or distributors will often aid the consumer in identifying the specific portion sizes by providing a scoop or a measuring cup of the appropriate volume. Sometimes there are different dispensation options with different associated volumes. In which case, the scoop or the measuring cup may be provided with volume-indicating demarcations so the user/consumer is able to measure the appropriate/desired volume of powder. Some users/consumers rely on these shipped scoops for proper use of the material.
When provided, such scoops and measuring cups are frequently not environmentally-friendly being manufactured of plastic and other non-environmentally friendly materials. As users and consumers are increasingly looking for environmentally-friendly products, those scoops and measuring cups are less desirable to the consumer.
A further issue arises that in some contexts is more important. A conventional scoop and measuring cup, as they are pre-formed into their volume-capturing configuration, are not easily packaged for shipment and storage in association with the product container. A common solution is to add the scoop or measuring cup into the material-containing-volume of the container after it has been filled with the product. The container is then shipped and stored with the scoop or measuring cup inside. During shipment it is common for the scoop or measuring cup to become buried within the product. A user is required to “fish” within the container to locate and retrieve the scoop or measuring cup. Depending upon the dimensions of the container this may not be a trivial task, particularly when the scoop or measuring cup is deeply buried.
This is problematic on several fronts. In some cases users are discouraged when they cannot locate the scoop or measuring cup. In some cases the user may believe that the container was shipped without the scoop or measuring cup. This belief, even in cases when the scoop or measuring cup is present, can lead to complaints and mistaken criticisms of the product and manufacturer/distributor.
Further, for some types of product, e.g., infant formula, the user does not desire to use their hand/fingers or a foreign object to search the container volume for the scoop or measuring cup. For these users, the unavailability of the scoop or measuring cup in a convenient and sanitary manner is unacceptable.
Manufacture of the product category sometimes referred to as a constructible utensil category is maturing. Many conventional folding spoons have usability or manufacturability issues that do not scale when making 100's to 10,000's units per minute, or even greater numbers in shorter periods of time. At current market conditions, for a single-use tasting constructible utensil, such quantities are necessary to be competitive irrespective that a single-use tasting constructible utensil may be certified to meet current compostability standards, consumer concerns, and is thus better environmentally than a plastic mini-spoon, among other advantages.
A manufacturing technique for constructible utensils uses a sheet-fed printing process as it is very good at manufacturing and managing low quantities of constructible utensils. And in its infancy, market demand could be met by sheet-fed printing. As the market has been informed and as many retailers change their standards realizing the potential advantages of paperstock constructible utensils of all types in general, and especially for a small single-use tasting constructible utensil, market demand continues to increase. A limitation on greater market acceptance from retailers can be unit cost, so manufacturing techniques are needed to cost-reduce the constructible utensil so it can gain greater entry into food tasting applications that had been reserved for small plastic spoons.
The sheet-feed printing process includes several steps for transforming a large roll of special paperstock from a mill into bundles of organized constructible utensils suitable to be delivered to distributors and retailers. Those steps include the following elements (some of which may be combined together in different steps): 1) conversion of the sheet into individual sheets; 2) feeding the sheets into a stop/go printing process that adds content, 3) die stamping process that cuts out individual constructible utensils while adding or otherwise forming the score pattern; and 4) gathering and packaging the individual utensils into the proper size. After the die stamping, the individual constructible utensils are detached from the sheet (but may need to be mechanically punched out by machine or hand) and collected into the requisite number of units to be shrink-wrapped and delivered.
Market acceptance also includes consumer acceptance, that is acceptance by the person who actually takes the constructed utensil loaded with a portion of foodstuff and using the loaded constructed utensil to deliver the foodstuff into the mouth for consumption. The mouth is quite sensitive and a constructible utensil needs to be free from any and all sharp protrusions on the part of the constructed utensil that enters into the mouth or portion that the user may lick with the tongue. The mouth and tongue are sensitive to very small of irregularities and a sharp protrusion can severely reduce consumer acceptance which will have a negative impact on the retailer purchasing and using such a constructible utensil.
It is well-known that food manufacturers prepare and deliver foodstuff within a food container. In some cases, consumers require or desire a utensil to assist in consumption of the foodstuff from within the container. It has been a challenge to manufacturers to reliably deliver utensils to the consumer along with the foodstuff while ensuring that they remain sanitary.
One solution that works for certain food containers has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,381 which describes a constructible utensil that is integrated or attached to a food cover for a food container, sometimes referred to as a “spoon lid”—this patent is expressly incorporated in its entirety by reference thereto for all purposes. It is not always possible or preferred to provide a constructible utensil as integrated with or attached to the food cover.
As market acceptance for constructible utensils increases, alternative designs and implementations offer retailers and consumers more choices to further increase market acceptance (including functions, cost, and ease of use).
Sustainability, recyclability, compostability are becoming increasingly important to retailers and consumers. However, not everyone uses the terms correctly—marketers sometimes use these indiscriminately and vaguely, often to the frustration of environmentally and socially conscious manufacturers, retailers, and users who desire more accuracy. Increasingly standards for sustainability are being developed and used to help retailers and consumers avoid “green washing” for the products that they buy and use.
For true ecological friendliness, materials and products meet specific, ever-evolving standards and requirements. The “green” world employs a special lexicon, particularly for words such as degradable, biodegradable, recyclable, sustainable, and compostable.
Degradable plastics are oil based and break down through chemical reactions rather than the activity of micro-organisms, so they can degrade in an anaerobic environment into water, CO2, biomass, and trace elements. For example, the term “biodegradable” by itself does not mean much when biodegradable plastics and some types of biodegradable spoons include products that may take 100's to 1,000's of years to degrade. Since “biodegradable” specifies NO time limits, for the purposes of composting and sustainability “biodegradable” is often a meaningless term if not an imprecise term.
To be considered compostable, plastic material must break down within 180 days in a commercial compost facility. Biodegradable plastic has no time limit. According to the American Society for Testing & Materials (e.g., ASTM D6400-2004 “Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics,” ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., 2003, DOI: 10.1520/D6400-04, hereby expressly incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety for all purposes), for plastic to be considered as compostable, it must be able to break down into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass at the same rate as paper. It also needs to look like compost, should not produce any toxic material and should be able to support plant life. Compostable items are made from plant materials such as corn, potato, cellulose, soy, sugar, and the like.
Another important ASTM standard is ASTM D6868-2011 “Standard Specification for Labeling of End Items that Incorporate Plastics and Polymers as Coatings or Additives with Paper and Other Substrates Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities,” ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., 2003, DOI: 10.1520/D6868-11, also hereby expressly incorporated by reference thereto in its entirety for all purposes. This specification establishes the requirements for labeling of materials and products (including packaging), wherein a biodegradable plastic film or coating is attached (either through lamination or extrusion directly onto the paper) to compostable substrates and the entire product or package is designed to be composted in municipal and industrial aerobic composting facilities within 180 days.
The term compostable until recently was subject to some ambiguity. Certifications and representations of compostability most often reference commercial/municipal composting facilities that precisely control the environment (e.g., temperature) and microbes (e.g., periodic infusion of appropriate quantities of the appropriate microbes). Few bio-based utensils are certified compostable, and most include varying amounts of plant based starch and petroleum and take over the required 180 days or more to compost under the best of conditions. Home composting is rarely an option for these materials. Some “biodegradable” products like Taterware may take years—compost facilities either disallow all bioplastic utensils or pick them out of the compost at the end of the composting process.
Consumers have become increasingly skeptical of certain claims as to the various “green” attributes of various manufacturers and products since the introduction of “biodegradable plastics” in the late 1980s. Although touted as “environmentally friendly,” many so-called biodegradable plastic products did not compost as implied. And yet manufacturers of these products were able to make claims of biodegradable because no scientifically based definitions, test methods and standards existed. Promulgation, adoption, and use of the ASTM specifications, definitions, and tests mentioned above provide a standard by which products and materials may be evaluated. To this end, there are organizations that provide certification of conformance to one or more of these standards as appropriate. For example, the Biodegradable Products Institute, 331 West 57th Street, Suite 415, New York, N.Y. 10019 has created a “compostable logo” which is designed to help remove some of the confusion for consumers. The Compostable logo builds credibility and recognition for products that meet the ASTM D6400 and/or D6868 standards so consumers, composters, regulators, and others can be assured that the product will compost as expected.
As consumers, composters, waste scavengers, regulators, and others continue to develop the technologies and processes for efficiently handling and sorting consumer waste, consumers and businesses (collectively purchasers) are on the front line and make important decisions. The decisions include selection, use, and, disposal of products. Selection is important, based upon a purchaser's understanding the degradability of the product and, as noted above, can be improved by certifications informing a purchaser of the attributes of a product. Additionally, based upon experience and history that the purchaser has with particular products, the purchaser may be influenced towards selection or use. This is important with utensils designed for foodstuffs—how the utensil feels in the mouth of the user is important. Coatings, sharp edges, dimensions, sturdiness, and the like all play a part in selection and use.
After selection and use, the user decides on, or initiates/influences, post-use handling. It is not always clear to the user whether a product is recyclable, compostable, or should be included as trash. Users are often confronted with a multitude of bins with disposal options. For some products, it is problematic to select the wrong receptacle. And the propriety is not just a simple matter of knowing the characteristics of the product—one sometimes needs to know the specifics of the processing used by the disposal/recycling/scavenging entity to match a product to the right process capabilities of recycler/scavenger. This can be overwhelming to a user and can produce undesirable outcomes for the intended “green” behavior. For example, many petroleum-based utensils are recyclable, and most bio-based plastics are NOT recyclable. Most users cannot readily distinguish one composition from another to allow them to properly manage the product, even if they were current as to the recycling capabilities of the local processor.
As varying compositions of consumer-products are introduced, the user becomes increasingly confused as to which the product that they want to process is recyclable and how to quickly and error-free sort the various products. Some “green” conferences have recycling advisors stationed at waste collecting areas to help educate users. This can seem overly complicated to some users, especially to users that are infrequently confronted with these options. This interferes with adoption and enjoyment of the advantages offered by compostable constructible utensils.
There are many instances where single-use products are currently used for tasting and consuming foodstuffs. Mostly these products are made from a plastic or a bio-material that is not, or insufficiently, compostable and easily bio-degradable. These products typically come preformed into the recommended configuration for use by the user.
To compound the problem, there are many venues in which utensils are single-use (e.g., foodstuff tasting/dispensing utensils or single-serving disposable utensils). Not only is the sorting/processing problem multiplied by the sheer volume of these products used world-wide, they also use up too many resources. This is because these products also have the further undesirable characteristic of attempting to emulate conventional multi-use utensils in their construction and arrangement which results in poor packing density. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are increasingly concerned about cube utilization (amount of product that can be shipped/stored in a specific cubic volume). The less efficient the cube utilization, particularly as compared to alternative products, the more costly it becomes to ship and warehouse.
It is not always the case that a utensil design scales well as seen in many “mini” tasting spoons that yield a bowl that is often too small and shallow for properly supporting, dispensing, and consuming adequate serving sizes of a range of foodstuff. Both the retailer and the end-user can become frustrated by this. Sometimes the design is further altered after scaling which results in more material and often a worse associated cube utilization parameter. Not only can these products be inefficient, such products often take up an unnecessarily large amount of space in the preformed configurations while being inefficient and costing more. It is understandable as preformed configurations in consumer-familiar designs is believed to maximize strength while minimizing user complexities. (In this context, preformed generally excludes constructible devices as the product is preformed at the time of manufacturing into the format deployed to the retailer and used by the user.
Compounding the problem even further, bioplastics use more material in their construction because they do not have the same material properties (e.g., tensile strength of bio-material versus stainless steel versus conventional petroleum-based plastic). There are many disadvantages to conventional tasting/single-use utensils, particularly to those attempting to be truly environmentally-friendly.
Currently there are several “green” factors that can be independently evaluated which include: recyclable, renewable, compostable, and sustainable, and usage of material efficiency and cube utilization efficiency for volume and weight). A product and processes that measure favorably against these factors while being friendly, convenient, effective, and efficient for the retailer, consumer and waste processor is preferred.
There are many needs for constructible utensils, including without limitation:                A) a system and method for a constructible scoop that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional preformed scoops that are shipped in association with a scoopable product;        B) a system and method for high-speed manufacturing of market-acceptable constructible utensils;        C) a system and method for associating a constructible utensil with a container; and        D) a system and method for meeting market demand for better constructible utensils.        